The Amazing Misadventures of Blackface Masculinity
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Pimps Up, Hoes Down? The Amazing Misadventures of Blackface Masculinity Davarian Baldwin That’s why the gangsta rhymers ain’t inspired Heinous crimes help record sales more than creative lines —Nas, ―Can’t Forget About You‖ I don’t advocate putting women on the street. But in the grand scheme of things, throughout history there’s always a pimp and a ho. And I’m certainly not the ho. —Katt Williams, comedian/actor So one night I was flipping through channels and came upon what seemed to be a provocative, if not interesting segment on CNN, ―Hip-Hop Fueling Wave of Gay Bashing?‖ which I soon found out was part of Paula Zahn’s larger special ―Hip-Hop: Art or Poison?‖ From the start I was suspicious to see precisely how Paula Zahn was gonna handle hip-hop, but then I saw that two people whose ideas I respect, writer Bakari Kitwana and filmmaker Byron Hurt, were featured in at least this particular segment, which became a larger discussion about black masculinity, homophobia, and misogyny through the prism of hip-hop. I was relieved to see that both Kitwana and Hurt made it clear that homophobia and misogyny are dangerous ways in which a hip-hop-inflected black masculinity has been privileged and both overtly and subtly celebrated. Then Hurt made the mild attempt to possibly suggest that the hypermasculine posturing in hip-hop was in some ways connected to expressions of masculinity within mainstream American culture. He talked a bit about his experiences as a football player for diagnosing the larger problem of a normalized violent and aggressive American masculinity that expresses itself through misogynistic and homophobic acts. Kitwana added that blame for the current construction of this dangerous expression of masculinity within hip-hop needs to be parceled out among consumers who demand this image through their purchasing choices, the artists who continue to provide such images, the music industry that limits the kinds of hip-hop that gets financial backing, and even the FCC, who doesn’t enforce the laws that are currently on the books. At the same time, I was a bit dismayed that two intelligent thinkers like Hurt and Kitwana didn’t more directly resist the framing of the show and its limited ―What’s wrong with hip-hop . hip-hop as the source of homophobia‖ scope. Even with Kitwana’s cogent identification of a range of actors at fault, I could see viewers walking away with the idea that the problem still rests with black consumers, black artists, and a black hip-hop music industry. I think we all, especially those of us who do receive some media attention, must be adamant and strategic about shifting conversations away from 1 an age-old and static discussion of ―The Negro [as] Problem,‖ especially in mainstream discussions and debates. Still it was gratifying to see two black men talking critically about black masculinity in the context of popular culture, especially because I understand how media interests can cut, shape, and flat-out ignore, if not misrepresent, more complex ideas and positions coming from politically marginalized communities. However, my sense of gratification was quickly ground down under the wheels of the cultural industrial ―sound bite‖ machinery of this television news format and its orchestrated presentation of ―panel diversity.‖ Zahn turned from the two black men to a new panel of ―experts‖ who respond to the thoughts offered by Hurt and Kitwana, of course leaving both Hurt and Kitwana expunged from the frame and with no chance to counter. This Greek chorus included Amy Holmes, a Republican political strategist; Joe Madison, a talk show host at Washington’s WOL Radio; and radio talk show host and NewsMax.com columnist Steve Malzberg. Their collective sound bite anointed ―gangsta rap‖ with the Herculean strength to single-handedly generate a misogynistic and homophobic masculinity, a deviance both rooted in the dysfunctional working-class black family and betraying the artistry of ―real hip-hop.‖ Now visually and perhaps even politically (a black female conservative who enjoys hip-hop, an ―old school‖ black male social advocate, and a seemingly ―with it‖ white male political centrist), this panel appeared diverse and obviously media savvy, but the range of conversation was decidedly more limited and parochial. After rounds of gangsta rap ―isn’t the whole story about the black community, look at the black middle class‖ and bemoaning the detriments of not ―hav[ing] a father in the home,‖ Malzberg exploded in the typically performative talk-radio way: Well, I mean, it—this gangsta culture is outrageous. And the excuses I was hearing before, that this is the way that guys are brought up, to express their masculinity, and it’s the only way they know to express their masculinity, it’s a cultural thing, he played football, and—look, I was raised—I’m going to be 48 years old—I was raised in this country. I was raised, I would like to think, in a masculine way. I played sports. I played everything. I never heard of B’s or hoes or treating women like that in my life when I was a kid, not until this gangsta rap culture started appearing out of nowhere. This outburst and outrage over even the possibility of connecting what is being expressed in hip-hop to a larger American masculinity (―I was raised in this country. I was raised, I would like to think, in a masculine way‖) was followed by acquiescence to such a position through the utter silence of the other panelists. I quickly began to understand that this wasn’t a discussion simply about hip-hop or gangsta rap, but that black masculinity was on trial. Ironically, the framing of this CNN special brought me back to a series of sometimes intense conversations I have had with my oldest of two sons about appropriate gender roles. In these conversations, my kindergartner has grilled me about the appropriate and strict distinction between what girls and boys can and cannot do, especially in terms of play styles, occupations, and even behavior. These inquiries were pretty basic, filled with the typical six-year-old boy response of ―Eeuwh! That’s for 2 girls!‖ when talking about ballet or the inquiry/proclamation that only boys can play football. In fact I was proud that he was reflective enough to even have these conversations with me, instead of simply making up his own mind. He seemed pretty open to my mantra ―Girls and boys can be and do anything they desire,‖ even though this mantra was clearly running up against some received logic fermenting in his brilliant six- year-old brain. Therefore, as a black father, I am concerned by exactly what is shaping and what will shape the definition of masculinity for both of my sons, especially during these crucial and tender developmental years. The CNN special seemed to say, or at least there was little challenge to the suggestion, that the safety of my sons’ healthy masculinity hinges on being protected from hip-hop’s particular brand of misogyny and homophobia over and above exposing them to other venues of socialization, like football or the church. Of course, one might say my sons are young black children, particularly ripe to be poisoned by hip-hop’s construction of gender roles and the violence, sexism, and homophobia upon which its current hypermasculine posture rests. However, the rub is that my family lives in a predominately white neighborhood (filled with American flags), far away from both any local or familial ―hood,‖ and my sons are rarely allowed to watch hip-hop videos. After further inquiry and observation, I realized that my son’s emergent ideas (or at least questions) about strict gender roles came from the proverbial playground, again not in the ―concrete jungle,‖ but at his almost all-white, extremely affluent, social justice–espousing, folk-singing, LGBT-friendly Quaker school. Now of course this is no indictment of the school, but simply highlights that my son is picking up these potentially dangerous ideas about gender roles and he shuttles back and forth between an affluent white school, playgroups, and a solidly middle-class white neighborhood. I was reminded of the obvious fact of America’s pop-culture pantheon of ―real guy‖ gods, from ―the Duke‖ John Wayne and Charlton ―from my cold dead hands‖ Heston on up to Dirty Harry, John Rambo, and Jack Bauer. Such realities reinforce the observations gingerly made by Hurt and soundly denounced by Malzberg, that the current ―gangsta‖ expressions of masculinity may deploy a new lexicon and imagery but are not new and are pervasive throughout American culture writ large. Most importantly, examining the shape and tenor of the ―national‖ concern with hip-hop masculinity and the less overt but connected playground expression of what ―boys and girls do‖ begs the question: What are the real stakes in this current mainstream discussion about the ―Crisis of Black Masculinity‖? Conversations with my son made it clear to me that the very same masculine behaviors we are now rightfully demonizing are not unique to hip-hop but also exist and are transmitted within privileged, politically liberal, white spaces. After reflection, I recalled that over and over again the statistic ―approximately 80 percent of hip-hop is consumed by white teens‖ was brought into the CNN conversation. In my most optimistic moments, I hoped such a statistic was meant to help us understand how market forces, particularly the consumer desires of white youth, help shape the kind of hip-hop masculinity we are dealing with where, according to Nas, ―Heinous crimes help record sales more than creative lines.‖ I thought I might have been witnessing an admission that a range of forces, and not some skewed and static vision of Black Masculinity™ (read: deviance), was the problem.